A random stabbing in New York City leaves two dead and one injured

Two men are dead and a woman is fighting for her life after a man was brutally stabbed in New York City Monday morning, according to New York police.

The incidents began shortly before 8:30 a.m. in Manhattan’s 10th, 13th and 17th districts, police said, and all appeared to be random.

The first victim was a 36-year-old construction worker at his job site at 444 West 19th Street. Police said the 51-year-old suspect approached the victim and stabbed him in the abdomen before fleeing the scene. The victim was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital shortly after arrival.

The second stabbing happened about two hours later at 500 East 30th Street. The 67-year-old victim was fishing when the suspect stabbed him multiple times in different parts of the body, police said. The victim was also pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.

Police said the third and final attack happened 30 minutes later — just before 11 a.m. — at East 42nd Street and First Avenue near the United Nations. The suspect stabbed a 36-year-old woman several times. Police say she is in critical condition at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The suspect was eventually apprehended and taken into custody at East 46th Street and First Avenue after a taxi driver witnessed the third stabbing and called police. Two large kitchen knives, covered in blood, were recovered by police after he was arrested.

The suspect has eight previous arrests, including grand theft. New York Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference that they are trying to determine why the suspect was “on the street.”

“Our hearts go out to the families, go out to other New Yorkers who witnessed such a terrible act. We will keep them in our prayers,” Adams said.